Hammer Project

The Modeling Process

For this project we expanded our knowledge of the extrude tool to make a hammer and a nail. We started with a cube which we extruded into a long rectangle. We closed off a section at one end, splitter it in half, extruded it again and divided it into six sections to make the claw of the hammer. We made the curve of the claw by going into vertices mode and selecting the vertices we wanted to bend and using the manipulation tool. Opposite from the claw we made the hammerhead by individually extruding four sections and widening/shortening them using the manipulator tool. On the last section, we beveled the corners to make it look smoother and round. Next, we shaped the handle by bending the vertices again. After that, the final step of modeling was to bevel the edges of the handle.  We were also told to make a nail to go along with the hammer this was achieved by placing a cylinder and extruding both ends. On one end we widened it to make the flat face and on the other and we shrunk it into a point.

The Shading Process

After modeling we began shading our hammer and nail. On the nail and head of the hammer we applied a phong to make a shiny effect instead of a lambert or blinn. We kept the end of the hammer at a grayish color and made the nail into a dull gold. On the handle of the hammer we applied a regular lambert and changed it to brown. The final step was to add a texture to the surface that our hammer would be lying on. I chose a raw wood texture to look like a workbench.

The 3-Point Lighting Process

The finishing touches of this project included lighting it up with spotlights and using the method of 3-point lighting to give off the best shadows and display the details. We started with the key light on the right which was closer to the subject. The fill light was on the left and farther away/less bright than the key light and was used to fill in unwanted shadows cast by the key light. Finally, the back light topped it off which was put in between the key and fill lights but on the opposite side of the subject.  After placing all of these lights I went into render view and made my adjustments according to what I wanted my render to look like.

Overall this project was very interesting as I got to implement skills of lighting from the Polything project and adding textures and materials from the Castle project. We dealt more with extruding and manipulation as well as more complex wireframes. I can't wait to see how we will expand upon these skills to make more elaborate models and animations.

Final Reflection Video

Feature Story #1

Our second video of the year was a feature interview of a student from our school. We collaborated in teams to find a suitable location to shoot the video and choose good b-roll to incorporate in with it.We had one week of planning to prepare a list of questions and decide what we were going to interview the subject about and another week to film and edit. During this project, we struggled to find b-rol that was good quality, many of it was shot vertically from a phone and it was hard to resize inside Adobe Premiere. Another thing we struggled with was the jumpcuts. When I was talking I moved around a lot, making it very obvious whenever a cut happened. For the final product we were able to cover most of this up with b-roll. The first time we edited the video we had included the interviewer's voice saying the question. We learned for the reedit that we were supposed to either have voice overs introducing what the subject was going to say next or have title slides saying what the question was. Due to time constraints, we chose the title slide option. Feedback wise I believe people enjoyed the video except for the low quality of the b-roll. Considering it was one of my first videos of the year I am happy with the way it turned out and I learned a lot regarding the transitions between different shots and questions.

Feature Story #2

For our second feature interview of the year we interviewed another student about a book she had recently written and published. We spend a few days preparing the list of questions and setting up a good time to film with the subject. After that we spent a couple days filming and the rest of the week editing. Our weakness with this project was the first day we went to film, the equipment we chose wasn't charged all the way and by the time we had swapped it our there was no more time to film so we had to come back and film the next day instead. When we finally got around to filming the video we forgot to check if it was focused or not and the whole video turned out to be a bit blurry. Our communication issues with the subject also led to a lack of b-roll but we still made it work. In comparison to our first feature interview I can tell we definitely made some improvement. The flow of the shots is much smoother with the voice over and there are less jumpcuts.

ONW NOW Sophomore Edition

https://drive.google.com/open?id=16Y3L85hwx8Izflt2hLGfeVYiqYQQCnU5 

The finale for this semester was our sophomore edition of ONW NOW which we produced as a class. We chose production roles and split into groups to produce news stories to put in. We spent one week learning about the requirements of the project and deciding what would be included in the final product. Another week filming and editing and a third week filming the live show. We had students who wrote and controlled the teleprompters scripts for the anchors, other students who monitored sounds, cameramen, directors and more. Our group made the band concert segment, we struggled with finding time among us to work outside of school and film. Our second interview was very last minute but we ended up making it work. The only thing I wish I could improve about it would be the volume. The interview with Nathan was very quiet as was some of our voice over even though we edited it to full volume. I learned that I need to be prepared for all situations and if something goes off from the original plan, I should have a backup. Overall, the sophomore edition of ONW NOW looked like it could almost be aired to the full school! All we need it a little work on cues and facial expressions and we will be all set to air live!

Time Management

My time management has been pretty good in class, I have only had to stay after school a few times to finish up small things. On days where we finished early we always make sure that everything is done on google classroom before working on another class. Outside of class I sometimes look into the work of other students or people around the world to see what I can do differently about mine.

Strengths and Weaknesses

My strengths as a video student would be editing. I like making sure shots look as clean as possible and I am looking forward to seeing different methods to this. I am also looking forward to our Entertainment unit because I have some ideas for short films that I feel would be a lot of fun to make, I want to see what it would be like to be a director. I also really like writing scripts and lists of questions of interviews, I hope this can be handy later on in the year. My weakness would be performing on camera, I usually find myself at a loss of words if I am not prepared enough. My solution to this would to make a check of myself before I go on film and confirm that I know what my plan is.

Summary

I really enjoyed learning about life as a convergence journalist this semester and I am now considering taking the class next year. My favorite part was working as a class to make the ONW NOW video, I think we really got to know each other better and I hope we do more projects as a class later this year. I am happy to say that I am a lot more comfortable with the equipment and more familiar with the editing system and I can't wait to learn more about the hidden secrets they have. Next year I hope to learn more about how to incorporate animated texts into a video and how to check sounds more effectively on the cameras before filming.

Final Reflection Animation

This year has been a lot of fun so far! I have gotten better at character design, learned a lot about story structure and gotten to know the mechanics of the animating platforms better as well. I have chosen my favorite projects from the years so far and embedded them below with a little reflection to go with them.

Walking Cycle

I picked this animation to reflect on because I thought it was one of my best ones visually. The colors are really nice and even incorporated some of the skills I learned from the bouncing ball project to make a window. I became very attached to my character while working on this project.

During this project we learned how to make our own little characters be able to walk across the screen. It took me a while to decide on a character to animate, I had three options: a robot, a teddy bear and finally my dinosaur. I bounced some ideas off some friends in class and I eventually chose the dinosaur. First, we drew our characters in our sketchbooks and then scanned them into Photoshop to be colored. We divided the arms, legs and head into different layers so we would be able to animate them separately later. Once in After Effects, we set anchor points so the arms, legs and head would rotate correctly. Next, began the keyframe work. We had to be careful not to make the character look like it was gliding, to accomplish this we had to add a little pause after every step. We also had to make sure the arms and legs were alternating and that the legs were never in the same place at the same time. Once we finished this we created a background and a shadow that followed our character. I finished early so I made his eye blink and added a little more to the background. My weak spot in this project would be the slight glitch in his leg due to a keyframe placement issue. I also wish I could have made the background a little better because it looks very 2-D. However, this project really helped me understand keyframes better and how to work with timing. We also learned how to use the dodge and burn tool to make objects really pop. Overall, this project is probably my favorite from the After Effects unit.

Short Story

I choose this animation because it was one of my favorites to do. Even though I got behind and it didn't turn out the way I had originally intended, it was a lot of fun to think of my own story and see it come to life.

For our last video of the After Effects unit, we developed our own story by first analyzing Pixar short films and taking note of the structures of plot lines. Our goal was to implement everything we had learned form previous animations, such as puppet pin tool and walking cycle. I collaborated a lot with friends to give and receive ideas. Originally, my story was to be about a homeless man who lives alone outside of society. One day he goes into town for food and is mocked by everyone. He becomes very sad and starts to leave. On the way out, he sees a little homeless boy who needs help. The man wonders why he should help the boy when nobody helped him. Suddenly the man realizes that that is not the way the world should be and decides to help the boy. He takes the boy to him home in the woods and they build a tree house together. My weakness during this project came from how behind I got while sketching and coloring the scenes, so I got started on the animation very late.  From the animation point forward I had to manage my time very carefully and work quickly which meant cutting out some scenes. I had to stay after school almost every day one week to get finished. I also struggled with the size of my drawings. Some of my scenes weren't colored in a 1080x1920p canvas so the ended up looking a little stretched in the final product. If I come back to this project I would like to add sound because it might help make the message more clear. Overall I think the style of the art looks really good and I hope I can finish the story sometime.

Castle Model

A few weeks ago we began working in Maya. We have only made three projects but my castle model is my favorite. Instead of just making four towers with walls, I added in two more towers in the middle where the royal family lives.

For this project we learned how to add textures to things by using pictures we found on Google. We had to look up "seamless ______ textures" to find ones that wouldn't have a line going down the middle of them. To apply them to an object we added a Lambert and then connected a file to it. This was I bit hard for me and I ended up using a texture with a seam in it for the stone. I worked over this by shrinking the texture to make it less noticeable. Hopefully I can find a trick to finding seamless textures because it will be handy when working later.

PolyThing and Lighting

(Maya render)                                                          (Arnold render)

This is our most recent project in Maya and it was very interesting to me. We studied the different types of lighting and then implemented it into our model to showcase the details and shadows of the "Polything" we made. This project was very quick and easy, the only part that took a little bit to figure out was the order to delete the cylinders to create the holes in the sphere. My final renders were also a bit dark so I might go back and change the color of the plane to a lighter color to reflect more light and show more shadows of the Polything. The Arnold render showed the shadows and shininess of the blinn material while the Maya render doesn't. I am excited to see what else I can do with the different types of lights in other projects.

Short Story Animation: Be the Change

Be the Change is the story of a homeless man who lives alone in the woods. He sleeps in a hammock high in the trees. First you see him walk up and climb down from his bed. Then, he walks to the train tracks down the road to catch he train into town. Once he gets to town, he sees all the stores with clothes and food which he knows he can't buy because he has no money. He asks a supermarket owner named Jim if he can spare some food. Jim is blindsided by the homeless man's raggy clothes and refuses to give him food. The homeless man is defeated and begins to walk home sadly. On the way back he stumbles across a homeless child who asks him for help. The homeless man is about to refuse, probably thinking, "If no one helped me then why should I help him?" He instantly regrets feeling this way, shedding a little tear because he understands the boy's struggle. The man holds out his hand to the boy to help him up and take him home. The story ends with the words "It will be alright". This is to show that even if it seems everyone is mean to you and that no one understands there is always someone out there who knows what you are going through and that someday the hurting will end. Someone will come along to help you up.

For this animation we were supposed to showcase everything we have learned in 2-D animation this semester. In the shot where he is sleeping in the hammock, his breathing was animated using the puppet pin tool. The first shot that is zooming in on his hammock I used multi-plane animation to make the hammock seem like it was closer to you than the trees in the back of the scene. I used arcs with the leaves in the train tracks scene and also with the homeless man's walking. I also incorporated skills I learned from the walking cycle animation to move his arms and legs. For future animations I have learned not to spend too much time on storyboarding and drawing. I spent a lot of time drawing all the scenes out which ended up with me having to cut out some scenes from the animation. I also struggled with the size of canvases in Photoshop moving to After Effects. I needed to remember to make the scenes be 1920 x 1080p in order too fit correctly on the final product. You can tell that I had to stretch some scenes to fit in After Effects, especially in the scene where the homeless man visits Jim's Supermarket. Overall this project was a lot of fun and I think I will be coming back to it later in the year to make some revisions and additions because I feel that it has a lot of potential.

Op-Ed on Raven 50

Are We Getting the Full Benefits of Raven 50?

     This year the Olathe high schools are trying out a new system during lunch. We are given 50 minutes to eat and consult teachers for help. The time is split into two parts; Lunch A and Lunch B. However, the district is trying to decide whether the time is benefitting everyone or if we should just go back to the old schedule.
     Personally, I am seeing that Raven 50 is very helpful.  It allows us time to finish up leftover homework and ask questions to our teachers. Since school starts at 8:00, it may seem like we already have enough time to finish up homework before school, but some students cannot get to school until about ten minutes before the bell. Even if we already have our homework from the night finished, we can get a head start on homework from our first four classes or even study for tests we have later in the day. It also provides us an easier way to communicate with our peers. Last year we could only have lunch with our friends that had the same lunch hour as us. With Raven 50, we can sit with anyone, which helps friends who don't have classes together to stay connected. Raven 50 has health advantages as well. We get more time to eat so we don't have to rush. Students who felt that they didn't have enough time to eat a proper lunch are now freed from worry. I feel that it also functions as a de-stress time of day. I can sit down and distance myself from the busyness of school and have fun with friends for a little bit.
     Overall, I think that our high schools should keep this system because many of my peers really enjoy this time. If it is felt that students are not using this time correctly, I propose that we enforce some rules. Students must only eat in certain hallways/classrooms, they must go in for help this many times a month, etc.

Written News Story

LyLena is “On the Bridge” to Success

LyLena Estabine Olathe Northwest sophomore, just published her third book, On the Bridge. Her book is a dystopian novel that features a boy struggling through the problems in our society today such as bigotry and prejudice. With support from her family, Lylena self-published her book on July 1st 2017. On the Bridge can be bought and read online at Barnes and Noble and Amazon, but if you want a signed copy you can purchase them directly from LyLena.

According to LyLena, On the Bridge took about a year to write and publish. She used easy to access programs such as Google Docs and Microsoft Word to write the book and Canva to design the cover. LyLena wants other young authors to know that reading books, plays or poetry can really help a lot to “…find your voice and a particular style that stands out to you.”

When her book came out, she had book signings where people could come buy a signed copy of her book and talk to her about it. Her book seems to have been a hit with everyone who has read it, including her freshman english teacher, Ms. Toburen. According to Ms.Toburen she enjoyed the book and that she thought LyLena “...did a really good job, much better than I could have done at 15 for sure.”

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Process

When writing a news story you start with the five W's and then proceed with the most important information and concluding with the least important information. This is called the inverted pyramid style of news writing. Along the way we must remember to use quotes and to make sure that we are not writing in a fictional style. (Ex. we ALWAYS say, "...she/he SAID") As a class we looked at different news websites and analyzed written news stories to get an idea of what we were supposed to write. We also looked at our own Raven Daily and Raven Minute to see what other ONW students have made for written news stories before writing our own. I started with the five W's in the first paragraph. For the second paragraph I talked about how LyLena wrote her book and what advice she has for other authors our age. In the final paragraph I talked about the reaction of other students and teachers when her book came out.

My Thoughts

I liked being challenged to write in a less fictional style because I typically use very descriptive and shiny words when I write and this was very different for me. I still need to work on organizing my information from most important to least important and making sure my words are engaging the reader. I also need to remember to say "According to _____" and "______ said".

What I Would Change

If I were to do this project again I would make sure that I have enough quotes and that they are embedded correctly. I would also want to see what other opportunities there are to write news stories on and how much information there is for me to work with.

Interview with LyLena Estabine: Feature Story #2

The Assignment

For our second feature story of the year we were to have two interview subjects talking on the same/similar topic. The videos submitted will be viewed and one will be chosen to be featured in ONW NOW. Our group decided to interview LyLena Estabine, a sophomore at our school who has written three books. In this video she talks about her most recent book, On the Bridge. Mrs. Toburen was our second subject. She talked about what she thought about LyLena's book after reading it and what she thinks the future has in store for LyLena.

Pre-Production

For this project we switched up our production roles. I was the script writer and the interviewer so it was up to me to think of 21 questions to ask our subjects. I found the job very simple because I also have an interest in writing. I was genuinely curious to know what LyLena had to say about the process of publishing On the Bridge. We had to contact LyLena to set up a time when she could be interviewed since she busies herself in other activities such as acting. 

Production

On the first day we went to film, we had some issues with the camera battery and did not get any clips. The second day we went out to film was the day we finally got the interview filmed. We were lucky to have had just a enough time to go and film Mrs. Toburen on the same day. Because of this last minute decision I was completely unprepared with no questions. I ended up being pretty good at thinking of questions on the fly. We got LyLena to send us some b-roll a few days later. Unfortunately, there wasn't very much b-roll and I had to resort to using silent clips of the interview with the voice over in place of b-roll at the end.

Post-Production

Editing the video was difficult at first because LyLena had a lot of great things to say and I really wanted to include everything. Once I got past that and the scarcity of b-roll, editing was easy and I got it finished in good time. On the first edit of this video I did not have an intro screen. After listening to the feedback from my classmates and teacher I realized that I needed to add one. I already  had an ONW NOW logo so I animated that and turned it into an intro graphic.

What I Would Change

If I was to film this again I would make sure that the camera is focused properly because our clips are all slightly blurry. I would also like to make sure we plan a more appropriate place to film according to what our subject is talking about and that we have a microphone to eliminate some of the background noise. We also might want to consider what possible b-roll there is and if there is enough before we choose and interview subject.

Overall

Overall this project was fun, I'm starting to see lots of improvement in my videos and I'm hoping my next video will be the best one yet!